Aphrodite is Overrated
by long.live.HP.PJ.HG
Summary: Uh oh. It's THAT time of the year. The whole thing with roses, chocolates, and secret admirers. Wait. Did I say secret? Oh no. This year, Aphrodite is taking a different approach... NOTE: Slight T rating for mild language. EDIT: WILL BE UPDATED BY JUNE 2
1. Chapter 1

**A/N Hey, this is my first fanfic EVER, and I'm really excited about joining the community, so ummm...hi!**

Of Disparaging Looks and Old Traditions

No, no. There must have been a mistake. We are not SERIOUSLY bringing around _that_ old tradition again. I thought we had finally eradicated it once and for all.

Percy fell into step next to me as I marched up the grassy slope to breakfast.

"What's got everyone so riled up?" he asked, a confused look on his face. I would never say it out loud, but he looked kind of cute when he was confused, like a clueless little lost puppy... NO! Annabeth, FOCUS!

I threw him a disparaging glance. "You idiot, Seaweed Brain, did you _not_ notice the flyers everywhere?"

"Ummm...no. I'm _dyslexic, _remember?" he said, trying to throw me a disparaging look of his own. And failing miserably.

I tried not to laugh out loud at the look on his face, and replied,"So is everyone _else_, Seaweed Brain. Why do you think the flyers are in _Greek_?"

I expected a snappy reply, but instead he flushed a little and said,"Right. Well, what are the special _flyers_ for, then?"

Suddenly, a red-and-pink sheet smacked into his face. "See for yourself," I said, smirking, and handed the sheet to him. He took it and read it aloud.

"'Valentines' Day activity: Magic and love meet as the Aphrodite and Hecate cabins team up to help all those pathetic little lonelies find their One True Love!'" He looked up at me. "'Pathetic little lonelies'?"

I grimaced. "Yeah, Drew _might_ have been on the design-and-layout team."

"But what do they mean by-"

Suddenly, an announcement rang out over the grounds. "All campers, report to the breakfast pavilion NOW, or I will turn you all into shrunken heads floating inside bottles of Merlot!" Three guesses who that was. Mr. D., Mr. D., or _the wine dude_.

I groaned. "Come on, Percy. As the mortals say, _it's showtime_."

**A/N I know, not much to go on, but I **_**promise **_**to update soon. (Reviews would be a great incentive...like Nutella *drool*)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! (And by all, I mean 3) Here's the next chapter, up for all to see!**

**Disclaimer: WHY MUST YOU TORTURE ME WITH MY LACK OF RIGHTS TO PERCY JACKSON?! *sob***

**RR: Haha! I win.**

Of Evil Fates and Cursing Aphrodite

Percy and I walked up to the breakfast pavilion in silence. I was thinking furiously, more like just being furious. _Why? Why did they have to bring this back NOW? Why, O Evil Fates?_

"Annabeth?" Percy said, breaking into my thoughts. "I think you've rubbed your camp beads to wood shavings."

I flushed. It was an old habit of mine to rub my camp beads on my necklace whenever I was distracted, or to help me concentrate. I didn't realize that I had been fidgeting with them. I was actually more surprised that Percy had noticed. He's kind of known for being unobservant.

"Hurry up," I replied, trying to cover up my blush. WHY did Percy always seem to have that effect on me? _Being an intellectual creates a lot of questions and no answers, _I reflected ruefully.

As we reached the pavilion, slowing, I saw the Aphrodite cabin standing up on a stage, all giggling and fluttering their eyelashes at any boy who walked by. Well, the girls at least. The boys were flirting with any _girl_ that walked by. Drew, the head counselor, in particular, didn't even need to flirt- the boys just came to her. I sighed.

Also standing on the stage was the Hecate cabin. They were more serious, but still laughing and talking. The head counselor, Akira, caught my eye and grinned knowingly at me. I rolled my eyes in response, but still gave her a half smile. Akira's cool and all, but I sometimes get the feeling that she knows too much.

"All right, everyone! Settle down!" Chiron called. Everyone got quiet.

"Now, as you all may have noticed, we will be doing a little _activity_ for Valentines' Day. At the behest of our Lady Aphrodite, goddess of love, the two cabins of Aphrodite and Hecate shall be teaming up for a little, shall we call it, game. That's all I will be saying for now, over to the people in charge of all this."

Drew walked slowly and deliberately up to the microphone, hips swaying. I could tell, without looking, that several male eyes were trailing after her. She was really shallow and doesn't know anything past the next issue of _Vogue_, but I can't say I didn't know why she was such a boy magnet. Tall, Asian, dark hair in ringlets, plenty of jewelry, and perfect makeup, somehow managing to make jeans and an orange T-shirt look glamorous- she was the dream of many a hormone-crazed male. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Akira bouncing up to the mic. Some people chuckled at the stark contrast.

It's true though. Akira is a whole different story. She's tall, yes, but she's slim and muscular from fighting. She's actually obsessed with weapons and magic, that's what makes her so dangerous. As for looks, well, she has her mother's black eyes and raven hair, but she's Indian, so she could have gotten both of those from that side. Tanned-brown skinned and long-lashed as well, she's actually really pretty, but her intimidating persona made up for that.

"HI!" she yelled into the mic, more than a little enthusiastically. Did i mention Akira's _kind of _hyper?

"How are you all doing? Good? Cool, I don't really care. So anyways, this is actually a tradition that's _supposed _to be annual, but a few years ago some people campaigned against it-" she cut her eyes to me, then went back to addressing the audience. "And it was discontinued. But due to the efforts of our _wonderful _campers, we got this little activity back on track."

"Yeah, so, like, we were totally thinking that,like-" Drew began, but was cut off _again_ by Akira.

"As Drew was so eloquently announcing-" the campers laughed,"We will be doing a Valentines' Day tradition that has the Aphrodite cabin and the Hecate cabin collaborating to help singles find their one true love!

"The way that this works is: each one of you gets one cuff of a handcuff. You will have 24 hours to find the other half of your handcuff- the handcuff that your One True Love will be wearing. Once you find each other, your handcuffs will automatically/magically link together. You two, as a pair, will have to stay handcuffed to each other for 36 hours. And here's where the true demigod survival spirit kicks in- you will then have 12 hours exactly to figure out how to get these off. Oh, and by the way, once linked, these cannot be manually separated, such as cutting, burning, biting, et cetera."

Someone called out, "What happens if you can't find your 'One True Love' in 24 hours, or if you can't figure out how to get the handcuffs off in time?"

Akira replied,"For the first question, I'm sure there will be at least one pair that hasn't found each other, so you'll see. As for the second question, well, what do you think?" She smiled coyly.

"And yes, two last things: Let the games begin, and may the odds be _ever _in your favor!"

_Kaígontai ston ádi̱ , Aphrodite!_

**A/N I know, I totally stole the final two lines from the Hunger Games. **

**Didya catch the quote? If so, review and tell me who said it! I'll answer that in the next chapter.**

**Plus, I lifted a quote from **_**The Lost Hero**_**- when I described Drew. I doctored it a little to make it fit in context, but it's still mostly the same.**

**By the way, the last line means "Burn in Hades, Aphrodite!" I'm sorry if it's wrong, I got it off of Google Translate.**

**Also, I have a guilty admission: I wrote **_**myself**_** as a character into this chapter. I've always wanted to be a part of the Percy Jackson universe, and this is the only way to fulfill my fantasy. And yes, I went a little crazy describing "myself." **


	3. APOLOGIA

**APOLOGIA**  
**A/N I am sosososososososososososososososososososososososososososososo sorry for making you guys wait this long! Especially to my faithful reviewers! I blame it on school, homework, and my own laziness. I'm just a very sporadic person, with bad memory and a short attention span... NO, I'M NOT SAYING THAT I'M GIVING UP ON THIS STORY! My muse is a lot like me, sporadic and such, so she should take the shame and blame as well. I have writers' block, which I know sounds laughable after only two chapters, but that's the only way to decribe it. **  
**So now I'm sending out a plea for help. If my muse (or me) is too lazy, I REFUSE to disappoint my readers!**  
**I, , .HG, hereby declare an official S.O.S. I need help with this story, and I'm am just TOO DAMN LAZY to write it myself. If anyone is willing to cowrite, or even review with an idea (a special shoutout to Wendy Grace, who has already reviewed with a GREAT idea :) PLEASE pm me or review.**  
**I hope I don't sound too pretentious in this, I'm trying to present myself as a desperate writer in need (who am I kidding, I AM a desperate writer in need)**  
**Speaking of which, you guys do need to know, I AM writing a new chapter, it's just not...going..so...well.**  
**Keep fangirlling (or...fanboying?)**  
**- ;-D**  
**P.S. I probably will be publishing other little stories, or just oneshots. I really want to become a beta, and the only way is to either write entries totaling in 6,000 words, or have published at least five stories. :P**


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